Blog Hogs

Coaching Carousal Is Back

06/27/2012 11:25 AM - Mike Peck

For the second straight summer, the head coaches of most teams in Rockford’s division and conference are getting turned over. Through June 27, seven of the 15 teams in the Western Conference, including three of the five in the Midwest Division, will have new faces behind the bench.

Here is list of the movers and shakers so far in the Western Conference:

A few of the names might sound familiar. Arniel coached the Manitoba Moose from2006-09 before he was hired as the head coach in Columbus with the Blue Jackets. Allison was the head coach of the Iowa Stars from 2005-08.

A quick take on the draft-

I won’t offer a grade, but for the first time since Rockford’s been affiliated with Chicago, the Blackhawks took a European player with their first selection. It’s the first time since 2002 that Chicago took a player not from North America with their first pick when they grabbed Anton Babchuk (Russia) with the 21st overall selection.

As for the two goalies selected late in the draft (Brandon Whitney and Matt Tomkins), these two players are probably two-to-three seasons away from even sniffing Rockford and if they are NHL bound, five-to-six years away from that. With Kent Simpson and Mac Carruth close to entering the Blackhawks system and the emergence of Carter Hutton, the Blackhawks are really trying to keep the goalie cupboard stocked.

They also drafted Swedish goalie Johan Mattson with their final selection in the 2011 draft giving them five goaltending draft picks over the past three years.

Going back to 2003 (and not counting the 2010 or 2011 drafts), 55.7% of the Blackhawks’ selections played in the organization (39 of the 70 picks). Of those 39 picks, four played on AHL contracts.

So of the eight picks taken by Chicago last weekend, percentages say that four, maybe five of the players chosen, will end up in the organization.

Taking it one step further, 20 of the 70 picks (20.8%) have played in the NHL so far with Chicago. This number, however, doesn’t include prospects like Kyle Beach, Shawn Lalonde, Joe Lavin, Byron Froese and Peter LeBlanc who could all see time in Chicago at some point.

Using that percentage, two players from the 2012 NHL Blackhawks draft class will see NHL time in Chicago.

Of course this is all based on percentages. The 2009 draft has already had three of the eight players selected play in the NHL and the 2004 class featured seven of 17 players who suited up for the Hawks at some point. On the flip side, the 2006 draft produced Jonathan Toews for Chicago, but he is the only skater of the nine picked to play with the Blackhawks.